CAPE CORAL, Fla. — It was a $1,000 investment plus vet bills that a Cape Coral family said turned into a nightmare within hours.
“My son has been wanting a puppy for a while. Sort of like a companion or a friend. He’s 10 years old, so it’s one of those things you want to do as a parent. Christmas time seemed like the perfect moment to do it,” said Damon Saxton.
Saxton started looking online for an animal that matched the dog the family wanted.
“We went to Puppies.com because the reviews were good, and it said it was a reputable website, but it wasn’t for us,” said Saxton.
The family found an 8-week-old Shih-Tzu that was for sale in Lehigh Acres.
“We made contact with the supposed breeder. We met him, and we got the dog. I was holding the dog, so surely there’s no way I’m being scammed, right?”
Well, fast forward 24 hours, and things turned for the worst.
“The puppy started throwing up and wouldn’t eat or drink anything; we tried so hard,” said Saxton.
They took the animal to VCA Chiquita Animal Hospital in Cape Coral.
“Doctors ruled out a lot of things, and we got a bunch of medicine to help with dehydration and all of that. We thought everything was good, but wrong again,” said Saxton.
After the dog began getting even worse, the family returned to the veterinarian again.
“We had to have him put down; he wasn’t going to make it,” said Saxton.
The Better Business Bureau suggests that 80% of sponsored pet advertisements online may be fake. With the countless online scams popping up each day, it’s a shocking statistic for pet lovers to hear that 35% of recent online scams have to do with our furry loved ones.
- Research the breed.
Before purchasing a dog, especially if it’s a more expensive or rarer breed, be sure to do your research. Get a general sense of the prices these dogs usually go for. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. A puppy being sold for super sale is probably not a real puppy, or the puppy has been born into horrible conditions.
- Reverse search the image of your dog
If you’ve been sent an image of the puppy you’re being told could be yours, do a quick search. Search the breed of your dog and even the description. Scammers often reuse the same photos.
- See the pet in person
Before ever paying any money to an owner or breeder, be sure to meet the dog in person. If, for some reason, you can’t meet in person, try scheduling a video call. Scammers won’t even respond to these requests, so you’ll have a better chance of weeding out anyone who doesn’t really have a puppy.
- Check PetScams.com
PetScams.com offers lists of known pet scammer websites. Always check here to make sure you haven’t fallen for a common scamming website for puppies. New websites are added daily.
